THE OSTRICH. 7 



in weight, whilst the others barely average 



one and a quarter pound : 

 (4.) By the head and neck being bare of feathers : 

 (5.) By the beauty of its plumage, the only other 



member of the family producing feathers of 



any marketable value being the Rhea. 

 It is indigenous to and inhabits the whole continent of 

 Africa and Arabia^ but in the latter it is now nearly 

 extinct. 



The Rhea,, or South American Ostrich, has three 

 toes and no tail, and produces feathers somewhat similar 

 to the chicken feathers of the Ostrich proper. They are 

 known in the trade as ^^ vantour ''■' or vulture feathers, 

 being worth from 4s. to 30s. a pound. A curious ease 

 of swindling came to light last year in Port Elizabeth, 

 where a man, largely engaged in the feather trade, im- 

 ported large quantities of these feathers, and mixing 

 them up with the inferior kinds of white and grey 

 Ostrich feathers, sold them again as Ostrich feathers 

 at an enormous profit, completely deceiving the colo- 

 nial buyers, the matter not being discovered till the 

 feathers got into the hands of the London manufac- 

 turers. 



The Rhea inhabits, in vast numbers, that part of 

 South America which lies south of the Equator and east 

 of the Andes mountains, extending down to the Straits 



